Immune: The Ceased
by silenthorror
Summary: The final story in the Immune trilogy. Bailey has to tie up loose ends, will she make it out alive?
1. Chapter 1

_**THE**_** CEASED.**

_**PART 1: THE WAKE OF A** **BEAST **_

I'm starting to think that my mother was crazy enough to send us to a wasteland. We sat in the helicopter, relaxing before we made our trek to Savannah, which was the safe haven near the shore, according to my mother and the journal.  
A little bit later, we packed up all we needed and left the helicopter behind.  
We stumble through the ruins of the place called Miami. We still don't know if Savannah is even there, it could've been taken out by the water for all we know.  
The water engulfs the road in front of us and beside us. There's only one way through and that's straight ahead. There's cars, trees and rubble in the water. It comes up to my waist. The muck at the bottom makes my boots stick with each step. As we continue on, bodies start to appear, they aren't decaying, so they're obviously fresh. We're finally through the water when a tall, built, brown-haired man stops us.  
"Who are you?!" He asks, aiming his gun at us.  
"We're from Resurgence" I say, the name shakes inside my body.  
His gun drops. "How'd you guys make it out?"  
"A war drove us out" Christa said. "The dome fell and we fled to Arc, they told us to come here"  
"Do you know Amilly Mathews?"  
I swallowed hard. "That's my mother" I said.  
"We were friends back at Arc. I came here to help with the city but a faction from Resurgence attacked us"  
"Wisdom" I sighed.  
"Yeah...that one" He wrapped his gun around his back. "Anyway, follow me, I'll take you to Savannah"

He led us to a fence that was between two buildings. Inside of the fence was a small community, like Arc, but a bit smaller. They worked on something under pitched green tents.  
"What's that?" Erik asked.  
"Lethal Injection bullets, for Wisdom of course" He smiled. "I've forgotten to introduce myself, I'm Steven"  
We introduced ourselves as well then dropped off our bags in a room with cool air flowing through it.  
"Lethal Injection" I said softly to Erik.  
"Crazy...Do you think they'll use it on us?"  
"If they get the chance to" I said. "So let's not let them have that chance"  
We bumped into Steven again. He was walking with a technician.  
"We're working on making the dome a force field, cool huh?" He patted the boy on the back.  
"Yeah...Very cool" Erik smiled, even though the idea was blown out of proportion.

I wen't to the beach alone. Erik talked with Christa, Octavia and Zen up near the small benches on the pier. I had changed into my new clothes, well...same style but with different clothing. The new boots fit snug, the other ones hurt my feet, they were two sizes too small.  
There was no push and pull of the tides, the dome was blown to bits, half the simulation didn't work. It would flicker every so often and the outline of the dome would appear. I dipped my finger into the water, it was boiling hot. I winced, instantly pulling back.  
"Bailey!" Christa yelled, sliding down in the sand beside me.  
"How's the water?" She asked.  
"Don't touch it...It's hot" I smiled.  
"Do we trust these people?"  
"Not until they do something to earn our trust" I pulled my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around my legs.  
"Wisdom will be back if they know we're here" She said, taking a deep breath.  
"They'll be back if they know _I'm_ here" I said. "I'm like a trophy Brianna wants...And she'll get what she wants"  
Christa sighed.  
"I'm not safe, I'm putting all of you in danger"  
"We're willing to risk our lives" She said, putting her hands on my shoulder. A cool breeze touched my face, it felt like beauty hitting me.  
I know now...We are inseparable, we've made a team and we'll be together till the end.


	2. Chapter 2

I made my way through the long hallways. The inside sectors were huge. Rounding the corner, I ran into a doctor.  
"You're an Immune, Right?" He asked.  
"Yes?"  
"Such natural genes" He smiled and grabbed my wrist. I twisted his arm around his back and pushed him up against the wall.  
"Touch me again and I'll kill you"  
He grinned.  
"Something wrong here?" Steve said, as he appeared behind me.  
"He wants to work on me like a lab rat"  
"Not just him" Steve said. "All of us do"  
My throat swelled, it was hard to swallow. I took off down the hallway, I stopped for a quick second to look at a few people, laying in hospital beds with wires attached to their heads, the life sucked out of them. I pushed the metal doors out of my way and stopped where Erik and the others stood.  
"We have to get out of here!" I said.  
"Why?" Erik asked  
"They're gonna work on us..."  
"How do you know?" He asked.  
"Just trust me"  
Steve barreled out the door. "Where are they?!" He yelled.  
Erik took one look at me and sprinted towards the exit. We ran into an alleyway.  
"You guys go" I said, taking a deep breath.  
"Not without you" Erik grabbed my hand.  
"I'll be fine" I smiled and kissed him, all I did was buy them time.

I stepped out of hiding and raised my hands.  
"Stop!" Steve yelled, aiming his gun at my head.  
I must have blacked out, I awoke in a poorly lit, cords attached up and down my arms. My head pounded, this is my death room.

"Relax" A man said. He checked my vitals and spun my blood around in a machine.  
"Am I gonna die?" I asked.  
"We all die someday" He said.  
He pumped my IV full fluids and I blacked out again. Every time I would awake, there would be more people in the room.  
"Her cells are corrupt" My _Doctor_ said. "She's full of Proxy Curon"  
"Proxy Curon is?" A man asked.  
"The drug from Wisdom...She is not Immune" He said.  
"Kill her" The man said as his crew walked out of the room.  
He injected a serum into the IV. He leaned down towards me and whispered in my ear.  
"It's called The Red Dye Serum...It makes you seem like your dead...It's also a poison, you need to get it out of your system before the end of the month, there's also explosives in the lab, blow this place down"  
"You said I wasn't Immune?"  
"You are...I just needed them out of here" He said as he unhooked the cords.

I wobbled out of the room and leaned against the wall. I put up the hood on the sweatshirt the doctor had given me. My body felt weak, the wall was my only support. I slowly walked down the stairs, holding the rail tight. The Bio-weapons lab was closed and locked with a hand scanner. Luckily, the door was glass. I grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and slammed it against the glass door. It shattered and fell to the floor. The explosives sat on the table, they must have been new, because they were still packaged...From Wisdom...  
I grabbed a bag and stuffed them into it, then went back upstairs. I tossed the first one on a support beam and the second one on a wall.  
I escaped through the back door and sprinted down the road, getting as far as I could from the building. I pressed the button and behind me, the tower fell, collapsing into the building beside it and eventually crashing into the water.

A large wave followed. I ran and ran, but it wasn't good enough. The wave swallowed me. I spun around, bobbing up and down, occasionally catching my breath. The dome cracked and fell into the rushing waves. I couldn't breath, the water entered my lungs. I felt a hand grab me and pull me onto a floating door. It was girl, her body soaked and her hair was in dreadlocks and tied back.  
"Hold on!" She yelled.  
But there was nothing to hold onto.  
"When I say jump, you jump!"  
She jumped off the platform and I followed closely behind her. I hit the pavement and rolled. I got back to my feet and grabbed my arm in pain. The water slammed against some kind of invisible wall. I stared at water as it slowly moved back into the ocean. It must of been part of the simulation in the dome.  
"I'm Lucy" She said, smiling. She's British. Back in Resurgence, we only had a handful of British people.  
"You're from resurgence, aren't you?" She asked.  
"Yeah, how'd you know?"  
"Lucky guess" She said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.  
"I need to find my friends" I rung out the water in my hair.  
"Did they escape the wave?" She asked.  
"I don't know"

"Bailey!" A voice called out, It was Erik. Octavia and Christa followed behind him.  
He pulled me into a hug.  
"Where's Zen?"  
"He died...Got shot" Erik pulled away from me.  
"Douche Faces" Lucy said under her breath.  
"You're Lucy Bennett, from the British Colony at the F.O.B. A few miles from here" Christa said, looking fascinated.  
"Yeah"  
"You're originally from Wisdom...The first to confess"  
"Confess to what?" I asked.  
"My Immunity" Lucy said. "They exiled me two years ago, when I was 16. Then I heard about you guys and the rebellion, it gave me hope" She pushed up her glasses.  
"Okay...Where to now?" Erik asked.  
"We can go to the F.O.B. it's not far from here"  
"How many do you guys have?" Octavia asked.  
"29, all across the country" Lucy replied.

We made our way through the outskirts of Miami, there was nothing left. The dome had fallen and destroyed everything.  
"We're close" Lucy said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.  
A few feet away, a huge fence surrounded towering buildings. Lucy scanned a card and the gate opened.  
"Protocol" She said.  
Every place we've been to is always the same. Doctors and scientists running around, barking orders at people. They dressed different, freely, fashionably. One girl sits at bench, reading a book from the old world. She wears a hoodie with swirly pink designs draped down the front. Something that would be frowned upon in Selfless.  
"Whatcha think" Lucy asked.  
I scramble for words in my head. Amazing, extraordinary, but one word comes to mind; Defiant. Not because they're rebels, but because they choose to live with a rickety fence around their skyscrapers, It's basically spitting in the enemies face, telling them "We're here and we're strong enough that we don't need a solid perimeter around our safe haven"  
But the only word that escapes my mouth is "Cool"

A symphony of birds chirped in the morning sky. It feels good to be safe for once. A girl named Ana trained me for the past week and a half. I've been stronger, better. I haven't seen Erik since the second day we got here. In order to stay, we all had to get a job. Erik protected the fence. I finished training early and surprised him with a hug from behind.  
"Guess who?" I smiled, kissing his cheek.  
"Hm, the Queen of England?" He asked, mimicking a British accent.  
"Close" I said. "It's your Mistress"  
He turned around and quickly and kissed me.  
"I brought you a treat" I pulled out a giant chocolate chip cookie from a plastic bag.  
"How's training?" He asked.  
"Exhausting, how's protecting?"  
"Fun" He smiled. "Does this armor make my butt look big?" He turned a little. I put my thumb and index finger on my invisible beard.  
"Totally" I smiled.  
"Octavia and Christa are training Guns and Arms" He said.  
"Ugh...And I'm stuck here, running around a track"  
"Hey, You need that, It's almost the end of the month, if you don't work harder, the poison is gonna kill you"  
Everyday the poison slowly leaves my body, but with intense workouts, the doctor said when I puke, if I see the red dye, it's out of my system.  
"I know...I just wish there was something I could do, like help Lucy on her daily ration runs"  
Erik's pager beeped. "They need need, Bail" He kissed my forehead. I didn't really like the nickname, but I had to deal with it.  
"Love you" He smiled.  
"Love you too"

That night, I ran around the track in the basement. Everyone was sleeping but I was determined to relieve myself from this poison. I heaved over a trashcan and threw up my last meal and the rest of the Red Dye Poison.  
"Good job" Ana said as she stood from the bleachers.  
"Didn't see you there" I said.  
"Now that the poison is gone, I want you to train the recruits in the shooting range" She smiled and handed me a card with my picture and all my info on it. I looked terrible, my blonde hair stringy, my smile crooked. They took the picture at the worst time ever. But now that's all changed, I look normal again. My hair back to flawless and my smile straight and my clothes finally changed. I don't look homeless anymore.  
I went back to my room to see Erik laying in my bed. I sat down beside him and ran my fingers through his hair. It was shaggy now, not fixed and neatly placed. It looked good on him, and his scruffy chin made his face look even cuter.  
So much has happened...


	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, when I awoke, Erik was gone. Early morning work I guess.

"Knock Knock" Lucy said as she walked into my room

"I heard you're training target shooting"

"Yeah" I smiled and brushed the rats out of my hair.

"Excited?" She asked.

"Kinda, I'd rather be doing something else though. I'm good at the medical stuff, I used to watch my mom work on patients"

"I'll see what I can do" She winked and walked out of the door.

After I took a shower, and dressed, my name was called over the intercom.  
"Bailey Mathews, report to medical room 206" Looks like Lucy worked her magic. I walked through two large doors that slid open when I was inches away.  
Men and women in blue outfits ran around the room. It smelled like the hospitals in Resurgence, sterile.

"Bailey" A woman said. "Get ready, you're next"

I swallowed hard, put on a blue outfit, gloves, a mask and a surgical cap. She handed me a scalpel and pointed at the table. A hologram of a man appeared, lines down his chest guided me as I cut into him. My hands shook and every few seconds, a girl, younger than me, would dab a rag against my forehead.  
The heart monitor beeped rapidly.

"He's bleeding out, Mathews, find the source!"

I took in a deep breath and pulled back the skin.

"Oh my" I said, as I examined his insides. Blood filled his chest.

"Mathews, find...the...source!"

I grabbed a towel from the table nearby and dabbed the blood. His liver was cut and bleeding.

"I need the stapler!" I yelled

The lady near me handed me a large gun looking thing. I pressed the button and held it against his liver, it slowly sizzled and melted the slice back together, she bleeding stopped. I did the same thing to his chest. The hologram disappeared from the table and a set of scores showed up on the screen in front of me. A+  
I passed the test, but I wasn't too sure that I was ready for this. I ran out of the door and heaved over the trashcan.

"Intense, isn't it? A girl asked as she took her scrubs off and laid them in a cart.

"Yeah, I guess" I removed my clothing and dropped them into the same cart.

"Mathews" A lady walked out of the room. "You can call me Sarah Dweller, or Dr. Dweller"

"Right" I said. "Thanks for telling me"

"Anytime" She smiled. "We'll do another one tomorrow morning"

I was more of a fighter, not a doctor. We all have something special in us, Octavia is the gun expert, Christa is the warrior, Erik is the protector and Lucy is the retriever. But me, I'm a fighter, a protector, a retriever. Wisdom should know who they're messing with before they storm the walls of the Colony.

I left the building and went to the fence to look for Erik, but he wasn't there, no one was. The courtyard was completely empty, the training room was empty, the surgery room was empty, everyone was gone. I checked the lobby, there, everyone stood crowded together. I walked through the row of people, no one moved as I bumped into them. Then I seen, Brianna Caldwell stood at a podium looking around. I moved behind someone and froze, my eyes focused on the back of his head.

"People, we have enemies. Bailey Mathews is the biggest threat here. Along with anyone that follows her"

They all bowed their head. We all spewed out into the halls. I went right as the others went left. I opened the door to my room, Erik and the others sat on the floor.

"We're screwed" Lucy said quietly

"Can you believe she had the nerve to come here?!" I said, getting the pistol out of my drawer.

"It's the new pill" Christa said "It's supposed to make them battle ready"

I headed for the door.  
"Where are you going?" Erik asked.

"To the radio room, I'm gonna contact the other colony"

"I'm coming with you"

"Okay" I peered out the door. "It's clear" I said. "Let's go"


	4. Chapter 4

We stayed close to the wall, stopping at small openings and checking around corners. I kicked in the door to the control room and looked around at all the blinking lights.

"Over here!" Erik said, pointing at the radio.  
I grabbed the microphone and clicked in the button

"Mayday, Mayday" I said. "This is Colony 2, please respond" There was nothing but static. "This is Colony 2, please respond"

"Colony 2, this is Colony 3, we heard your mayday, what's wrong?"

I took a sigh of relief. "My name is Bailey Mathews, we're under attack by Wisdom, everyone is mindless zombies"

"We'll send all we have, hang in there Bailey"

The power suddenly went off. Erik grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight, the dark frightened him.

"Bailey Mathews, come out" It was Brianna, yelling into a megaphone. I let go of Erik's hand and headed towards the door.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Yes" I replied. I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, guns pointed at my in every direction. Brianna stood inches from my face, I could feel her breath touch me. I could see marks on her neck from where I didn't finish the job.

"I should've killed you" I said, smirking.

"You wont"

I spat in her face, she wiped the liquid off with her sleeve and pointed her pistol at me. I heard a gunshot, but It wasn't me that was shot, it was Erik, a fatal shot to the chest. He had pushed me out of the way to save my life. Soldiers from Colony 3 charged down the halls, but Brianna was gone.

"Erik!" I screamed. "Please don't die...Don't leave me!" Blood poured from his mouth, there was nothing I could do. Once again, I was losing the one I loved.

"Bailey" He said. "I wrote...You something, it's in your pillow case" He smiled one last time and slowly shut his eyes.

I stood up fast, grabbed my pistol and went after Brianna. I found her in the main room where everyone gathered earlier.

"Bailey, what a surpri-" I aimed my pistol at her and shot her knee.

"How dare you!" She yelled.

"No" I said. "How dare you" I aimed the pistol at her head. "I was kind enough not to kill you before, but now, I wanna watch you suffer"  
I trailed down her body a bit and shot at her thigh. She just laughed, taunting me, thinking I wont finish her.  
I aimed the gun dead center of her head and unloaded the magazine, 10 bullets, one for each person she made suffer.

I walked out of the room, wiping the blood off of my face.

"Brianna is dead!" I screamed. Everyone cheered and hugged each other. But I did nothing. We gathered in the courtyard, the pill eventually wore off.

"I'm so sorry" Christa said, hugging me.

"Is it over?" Octavia asked.

"For now" I said, looking passed the fence. Erik's memory will live on forever. I pulled the note out of my pocket.

_Bailey.  
If you're reading this, I'm most likely dead. I'm glad I got to meet you, I fell in love when you first tossed me around on training day. I know this has been tough and I know you've probably tore Brianna to shreds. You'll go through more struggles, but they wont be as bad. Bailey, you're extraordinary, I hope you know that. You're more than selfless, you're caring, and beautifully woven together. I love you, Bailey Mathews. I hope your life is good.  
Erik.  
_

Our fight might be over, or we might have to fight tomorrow. Our fight will never be over...


End file.
